As we work to bring even more value to our audience, we’ve made important changes for those who receive Ad Age with our compliments. As of November 15, 2016 we will no longer be offering full digital access to AdAge.com. However, we will continue to send you our industry-leading print issues focused on providing you with what you need to know to succeed.

If you’d like to continue your unlimited access to AdAge.com, we invite you to become a paid subscriber. Get the news, insights and tools that help you stay on top of what’s next.

wrapped in the flag

Coca-Cola has said farewell â€” at least for now â€” to
its â€œLife Tastes Goodâ€? campaign. Immediately following
the Sept. 11 attacks, the soft-drink maker pulled all its
television advertising. Two weeks later, a quieter, almost
melancholic commercial debuted, featuring soft-focus footage of
newly retired baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr., walking off the field
with his daughter. The commercial ends with a Coke logo, but no tag
line. Life just doesn't taste so good anymore.

Coca-Cola spokesman Robert Baskin says the shift in message was
â€œa gut decision,â€? since â€œsensitivities have
changed.â€? Coke was caught in the same bind that constricts
many of the advertisers these days, especially those as iconic as
the beverage industry leader: how to touch on Americans' newly
reawakened patriotism to promote their products, without seeming to
exploit a national crisis.

General Motors, another all-American brand, chose a more direct
response. Its new campaign, which premiered Sept. 20, features
spots playing on a desire to rebuild and show strength. â€œNow
it's time to move forward,â€? the voice-over exhorts, while
touting a new low-interest-rate promotion. â€œFor years, the
auto industry has played a crucial role in our economy,â€? the
ad states, â€œGeneral Motors takes that responsibility
seriously.â€?

As noble as the ad sounded, GM took heat for being opportunistic
when it was first aired. â€œStriking the right patriotic chord
now, requires the excruciatingly delicate touch of a
maestro,â€? says Marie Elwood, president of Minneapolis-based
consulting firm Avalaunche. â€œEven then, the note you hit may
send a reverberating screech across your product or service. If
consumers suspect that you are trying to manipulate them for
financial gain during a time of national tragedy, not only will
they shun your brand in the short term, they will likely eschew you
in the long term as well.â€?

Stephani Cook, director of leadership strategy at D'Arcy, an ad
agency in New York City, suggests applying a three-part test to all
advertising that aims to respond to the current crisis:
â€œFirst, does it say something helpful? Does it say what
you're doing to help? Does it say what others can do to
help?â€? If the ad misses one of the three, some may find it
off-pitch, she says.

Part of the challenge is figuring out how deep the new
patriotism runs, how long it will last and how tolerant Americans
will be of having this lofty feeling linked to consumer products.
Polls clearly indicate that patriotism is on the rise. According to
the Gallup Organization, Americans' satisfaction with the country's
overall direction has skyrocketed since the attacks, from 43
percent approval in a poll taken Sept. 7 through 10 to 67 percent
in one conducted Oct. 10 to 11 â€” the highest rating since the
period before the dot-com drop of January 2000. Approval of
governmental institutions shot up as well. In a Gallup/USA
Today/CNN poll, Sept. 20 to 21, President Bush's approval
rating rose from 51 percent in polls taken just prior to the
attacks to a record 90 percent afterward. Approval of Congress
leapt from 42 percent in early September to 84 percent by
mid-October, by far the highest rating that Gallup has ever
recorded.

Naturally, many national brands will be eager to incorporate
this patriotic surge into their marketing strategy in some way.
Avalaunche's Elwood urges them to proceed with caution.
â€œGiven the fierce patriotism that has swelled up across the
country, many companies will be tempted to ride the tsunami of
national sentiment by blatantly and unabashedly promoting
themselves as American businesses or as American brands,â€? she
says. But this approach runs the risk of blurring brand
differentiation, she warns.

Still, according to an exclusive American Demographics
poll on the role of patriotism in branding, conducted by
Ipsos-Reid, consumers overwhelmingly agree that â€œMade in
Americaâ€? matters these days. In the poll of 1,000 adults
nationwide, conducted Oct. 5 to 7, 41 percent say businesses should
make a point of labeling American-made goods â€œa great
deal,â€? while 24 percent say â€œquite a bit.â€? Only 6
percent said companies should not make labeling a priority at
all.

Fortunately, there may be a middle ground. Elwood recommends
companies use â€œa quieter approach that is respectful to both
their consumers and their country.â€? The most direct way to
score points is for companies to let the public know that they are
contributing to the relief effort, she says.

Indeed, in the first wave of corporate response, companies
donated money or goods and services in kind. Those were acts by the
corporate entities, usually not associated with individual brands.
Clear Channel Communication's radio stations asked people to donate
to a company-run relief fund. Tyson Foods gave food to rescue
workers. Pep Boys contributed car parts, and Amazon.com offered its
payment system to streamline financial giving.

Americans clearly approve. The American
Demographics/Ipsos-Reid poll shows that 58 percent believe
companies should continue to contribute what they can to the
national effort, and 58 percent think businesses should focus
either â€œa great dealâ€? or â€œquite a bitâ€? on
devoting company time, money and expertise to the war on terrorism.
Only 14 percent say businesses should help the war effort
â€œvery littleâ€? or â€œnot at all.â€?

When it comes to bringing that spirit from the corporate to the
brand level, however, matters get trickier. Consumers are not as
supportive of companies that use patriotic themes in their
advertising. A slight majority (52 percent) agree that businesses
ought to contribute to the spirit of patriotism through their
advertisements.

Those numbers highlight the fine line that companies must walk.
Says Jim Crimmins, chief strategic officer for DDB Chicago:
â€œOne question to ask yourself on a regular basis is,
â€˜Do I continue to be a sensitive brand?â€™â€?

how do patriotism and business mix?

Sixty-five percent of respondents to American
Demographics' exclusive survey thought that businesses should
focus on labeling products that are made in America.

How much should businesses focus on making it
clear which products they sell are made in America?*

GENDER

AGE

HH INCOME

EDUCATION

COLLEGE

RACE

TOTAL

MALE

FEMALE

18-34

35-54

55+

< $25K

$25K-< $50K

$50K+

HS OR LESS

SOME COL.

DEGREE

WHITE

OTHER

A great deal or quite a bit

65%

59%

70%

55%

65%

76%

66%

71%

58%

72%

68%

53%

67%

57%

Very little or not at all

15%

19%

11%

21%

13%

10%

15%

10%

18%

15%

14%

15%

14%

22%

How much should businesses focus on devoting
company time, money and expertise to the war on terrorism?*

GENDER

AGE

HH INCOME

EDUCATION

COLLEGE

RACE

TOTAL

MALE

FEMALE

18-34

35-54

55+

< $25K

$25K-< $50K

$50K+

HS OR LESS

SOME COL.

DEGREE

WHITE

OTHER

A great deal or quite a bit

58%

54%

61%

66%

51%

58%

62%

59%

53%

65%

56%

51%

58%

58%

Very little or not at all

14%

15%

13%

11%

16%

14%

11%

13%

16%

14%

12%

17%

15%

11%

How much should businesses focus on contributing
to the spirit of patriotism in their advertisements?*